Photovoltaic solar cells, typically made of silicon, are used to generate electrical energy from incident solar radiation. Typically, a plurality of solar cells are assembled and interconnected so as to form a physically-integrated module, and then a number of such modules are assembled together to form a solar panel. Several solar panels may be connected together to form a larger array. The individual photovoltaic cells in a module may be connected in series or parallel, typically by an internal wiring arrangement and similarly two or more modules in a panel may be connected in series or parallel, depending upon the voltage output desired. In the case where several modules are to be interconnected, and also in the case where two or more solar panels are to be interconnected, external terminals are required for connections to cables that couple the modules or panels together.
A number of different approaches have been tried for the purpose of facilitating external cable interconnection of solar modules and panels. By way of example, but not limitation, U.S. Pat. No. 4,239,555, issued Dec. 16, 1980 to Ronald S. Scharlack for "Encapsulated Solar Cell Array" shows one approach to the problem.
Prior external cable interconnection schemes suffer from one or more of the following problems: inability to assure that the cable connections are water-tight, lack of reliability, excess costs, and high voltage drops.